释义 |
slow-wormn.Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: an element of unknown origin, worm n. Etymology: < a first element of unknown origin (see below) + worm n.The first element is apparently cognate with Norwegian (regional) slo blindworm, shed snake skin, black slug, Old Swedish sla blindworm (Swedish slå blindworm, three-toed skink), also found in compounds with cognates of worm n.: compare Norwegian (regional) ormslo blindworm, shed snake skin, a particularly venomous snake, Swedish ormslå blindworm (18th cent.), Danish †ormslaa blindworm, Dutch †slaaworm bright-line brown-eye moth (1773, in slaaworm uiltje ), larva of the cockchafer (1798); further etymology unknown. Compare also Scots slae slow-worm (1930 or earlier; shortened < slaeworm at α. forms). The β. forms show a regular phonological development of the α. forms. The γ. forms are spelling variants of the β. forms resulting largely from folk-etymological association of the first element with slow adj. (compare quot. ?1791 at sense 1aγ. , and also sense 1b). In the form slay-worm showing a folk-etymological association with slay v.1; compare quot. 1689 at sense 1aα. . Compare similar association of Norwegian ormslo , Swedish ormslå with the respective cognates of slay v.1 1. the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Lacertilia (lizards) > [noun] > family Anguidae > anguis fragilis (slow-worm or blindworm) α. OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens (1974) 266 & spalangii : genus serpentis, musci uenenosi, [right margin] & þære scortan næddran, uel slawyrm. OE tr. Defensor (1969) xxviii. 204 In nouissimo mordebit ut coluber et sicut regulus uenena diffundet : on latemystum hit tyrþ ealswa snaca & ealswa slawyrm attru hit tosend oþþe ongytt. ?c1475 (BL Add. 15562) f. 115v A Slawe Worme [1483 BL Add. 89074 Slaworme], cecula. 1689 R. Hogarth at Sloe-worm Slay-worm, from its venomous nature. 1821 22 Mar. Tho' slayworms and adders be coiled by thy rills. 1828 W. Carr (ed. 2) Slaa-worm, a blind worm. 1878 W. Dickinson (ed. 2) 88/2 Slea worm,..the so-called blind worm, slo-worm. 1927 E. St. Vincent Millay iii. 125 I have broken my back to make a home for the slay-worm; And kept the foe from her nest, that she might hatch her speckled brood. 1992 D. Purves iv. i. 41 Edder's fork an slae-wurm's steing, esk's hint-leg an houlet's weing. β. c1225 ( Ælfric Gloss. (Worcester) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker (1884) I. 544 Stellio, slowurm.a1500 in G. Henslow (1899) 136 (MED) For a slowerm þat ys cropyn in a man.1530 J. Palsgrave 271/2 Sloo worme.1581 J. Derricke i. sig. Civ Behold you not the Sloworme there, with Vipers generation?1611 R. Cotgrave Scytale, the Scytall; a dangerous Sloe-worme.1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet xi. 92 The Stork delighteth in newts, water-snakes, adders, and sloeworms.1667 T. Sprat 223 The sixth are Experiments Medicinal, and Anatomical; as of..killing Water-Newts, Toads, and Sloworms with several Salts.1712 W. Nicolson Note Book 17 Jan. in (1985) 700 Serpents. All the kinds of these, from the Rattle-snake to the smallest Sloe-worm, are preserved in Spirit of Wine.1823 E. Moor 365 Slow worm, or Sloe-worm,..the blind worm.1890 9 266 The Sloworm is perfectly harmless. I once received a bite, which bled pretty freely, from one of these reptiles, but the wounds..healed very quickly.2000 (Discov. Channel) 111 The sloworm is not a snake either, but a lizard.γ. a1500 (1984) 20 Cecula, slowe worme.1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli f. 30v A certayne litle Serpent called a Slowe worme.1589 R. Greene sig. K3v Thine eyes are like the slow wormes in the night.1646 Sir T. Browne 153 So are slow-Wormes accounted blinde,..although their eyes be evident.1681 N. Grew i. iii. 48 The greater Slow-worm,..Called also the Blind-worm.1763 (Royal Soc.) 52 475 As to the slow-worm, I have had two fair trials, to conclude, that his bite is quite harmless.?1791 R. Burns (2003) II. 92 When I matriculate in the Herald's office, I intend that my supporters shall be two sloths, my crest a slow-worm.1802 G. Shaw III. ii. 590 Seban Slow-worm, Scytalæ Americanæ,..a small species, figured and slightly described in the work of Seba.1810 XV. 160/1 Coral Slow-worm.—Ground colour pale red, with coral-red variegations. A very beautiful species, native of Brazil.1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in 95 Where the two contrived their daughter's good,..The slow-worm creeps,..and all is open field.1897 G. C. Bateman 114 The Slow-worm has made itself famous by being the first to reveal to science the mysterious pineal, or median, eye.1973 A. d'A. Bellairs & J. F. D. Frazer (ed. 5) v. 173 The Slow-worm, in fact, is a regular burrower and spends a good deal of its time underground.2010 J. Lister-Kaye iii. 45 Suddenly exposed to the light, slow worms look put out and urinate to make the point.2015 Dec. 78/1 Slow-worms..are effectively ‘grass swimmers’, using the sides of their bodies to push off from the surrounding vegetation and produce forward momentum.the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > [adjective] > tardy or sluggish 1548 f. xxiiii Auoidyng the slowe worme and deadely Dormouse called Idlenes. 1596 T. Nashe sig. G3 Was euer..Ledgerdemaine a slow-worme, Viuacitie a lazy bones? 1680 S. Lee in J. Row sig. A4 Polyaenus in his Roman Stratagems is but a wrigling slowworm to this old Serpent in his direful Arts. 1716 A. Pope 1 The Learn'd themselves, we Book-Worms name: The Blockhead, is a Slow-Worm; The Nymph, whose Tail is all on Flame, Is aptly term'd a Glow-Worm. 1791 18 Oct. 2/1 It seems, by the squibs..against Mr. Lesslie as ‘a slow worm’ and ‘a writer of protestant bulls’..that somebody is in great haste. 2. 1802 G. Shaw III. ii. 581 Speckled Slow-Worm, Anguis Meleagris;..nearly allied to the common Slow-Worm. 1880 25 Spotted Slow-worm (Acontias meleagris). 1897 G. C. Bateman 129 The Spotted Slow-worm (Acontias meleagris).—The general shape of this Lizard is not unlike that of the Common Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis), hence its English name. 1923 4 183 Working with us Mr. V. FitzSimons has found a corresponding fixity in the stage of degeneration of the limb-girdles in the South African slow-worm, Acontias meleagris. 1824 J. Lycett 4 Of poisonous reptiles, the..slow-worm and snake, are the most hurtful. 1888 3 1096 Mr Burnell exhibited two living Slow-worms (Typhlops nigrescens) from Wentworthville near Parramatta. 1909 A. H. S. Lucas & W. H. D. Le Souëf 221 Like the other Slow-Worms, Lialis burrows in the ground. 1943 C. Barrett 319 Our legless lizards, generally called slow-worms, belong to a family that is typically Australian. 1970 R. Bustard 81 In Australia they [sc. the Pygopodidae] are sometimes called ‘slow-worms’ perhaps because the early European settlers were familiar with the slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) of their original homeland. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.OE |